Thoughts & Things

Getting My TBR Under Control

For those who aren't familiar with the term, TBR refers to a persons "to be read" pile. For some people, their TBR consists of a few books. For others, and not pointing any fingers here *cough*me*cough*, their TBR might essentially be all of the books. Of course, "all of the books" is not exactly the most probable of reading goals to achieve, so we have to make do with what essentially amounts to still too many books.

A few months back I realised that my TBR shelf on goodreads had reached the literal thousands. Even if I read a book a day, it would still have taken me years to get through the books that had made the list. Some of the books would only have led me to reading more books, as they were the first book in the series. So knowing that I had made my short term goals completely unrealistic, I did the unthinkable.

I deleted every book on my Goodreads TBR shelf.

I know, it's madness. There was absolutely a method behind this though. Once I had removed everything from my TBR, I could start from scratch. A lot of the books that had been on my list had been books I was probably never going to read. Books I saw one time and thought sounded interesting but was never going back to. Entire series when I hadn't even read the first book to know if I wanted to continue. The entire backlog of authors I hadn't even read once. I added every book I entered a giveaway for, even though I often browsed for giveaways, and entered many that I would probably never read if I didn't win them. By removing every book from my TBR, I removed all the books I wouldn't miss seeing there.

Once my Goodreads TBR list had been cleared, I felt like it would be easier to get to the books that I actually wanted to get to, like I was less bound to this virtual list. I still use Goodreads to keep track of my TBR though. First I added back all of the books that I own, but haven't had the chance to read yet (this actual physical pile has grown larger than I care to admit). I also added any books that the library carried that I intend to read within the year.

Getting my virtual TBR tidied up left me with a lot more freedom, even if it only changed my perception. Now I can focus on books I own, books I'm reading for challenges, and books that pique my interest in the moment. I've actually read more in the first half of 2017 than I read in all of 2016, so I think this change in mindset has enacted a more tangible change in how much I am reading.

For those who keep a TBR (on Goodreads, on a physical list or pile, or any other way), I highly recommend giving it a good cleansing. It allowed me to get back to actually reading, rather than worrying about the thousands of books I may never even have a chance to read.

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Seventy. Seven days of leave taken total.)